Inkjet technology has expanded its application to high-speed, commercial and industrial printing, in addition to home and office usage, because of its ability to produce economical, high quality, multi-colored prints. This technology is a non-impact printing method in which an electronic signal controls and directs droplets or a stream of ink that can be deposited on a wide variety of substrates. Current inkjet printing technology involves forcing the ink drops through small nozzles by thermal ejection, piezoelectric pressure or oscillation, onto the surface of a media. In inkjet printing method, both the media and the ink play a key role in the overall image quality and permanence of the printed images and articles. Thus, it has often created challenges to find media and ink which can be effectively used with such printing techniques and which imparts good image quality. In addition, nowadays, prints and printed articles with specific characteristics and appearances are often wanted.
As expanded colors and appearances are sought for home and office decorative printing, developments have been made to provide prints and printed articles with specific features, such as for examples, metallic appearances or reflectivity. However, inks and printed articles with such specific features are noticeably limited among available options due, for examples, to the cost or to the ineffectiveness for home and office use.
Accordingly, investigations continue into developing media, ink and/or printed articles that exhibit specific properties such as, for example, metallic luster and/or gold-like appearance.